The bed Cicero had slept in was stripped of its sheets and bare of pillows. Alex stood in the doorway to the room, the door creaking slowly away from her fingertips, and she watched Cicero shuffle around in his belongings.

"This place used to be a small military compound," Cicero said without turning around. "I mean, that's what Vida said, anyway. There's a small barracks around the corner where most of the Avoiders stay. I'll be over there if you need anything."

Diligently, Cicero folded each piece of clothing he had set out until they all fit in the one bag he had.

"I want to talk," Alex insisted. She tried to make herself sound as confident as possible, even if her stomach was sinking down to her knees.

Cicero turned around and dropped his bag back onto the bed. He relaxed his shoulders with a heavy exhale.

"Like, really talk. Not the... whatever that was in the Glider," Alex continued.

Cicero nodded his head slowly. "Me too."

"Good," Alex said. She let out a steady breath. "Why did you lie to me about the Wildlands?"

I need to rip the bandaid off right away.

"I didn't lie," he replied.

"Like you're not lying right now?"

"Fine. You're right. I told you the Wildlands weren't real because I didn't want you remembering them. I wanted you to think it was just dreams you were having about them. You lived out in the Wildlands with your family, with Will and your parents. It's where you were born."

"So, Will is my brother? If my parents were out there as Avoiders, does that mean I was one, too?" Alex questioned in disbelief.

Cicero nodded in reply. "The Code needed babies, and the best place they could think of where no one would miss them was out here, in the Wildlands. They stole you from your parents, but a few years later your parents took you back. For over a year they had you out in the Wildlands. I nearly died trying to get you back, but I convinced your parents it was for the best that you had me, and only me, to raise you. If you stayed out here, you would have died. The Achilles would have found you."

"Why lie to me about all of it? You made me feel like an idiot for so long. Like I was going crazy with these dreams about the Wildlands."

She looked down at her hand, picturing all the different ones she had seen in place of her own.

"You're not an idiot," Cicero insisted. "And I lied to you because I know you. I know how stubborn and how curious you can be. If you found out the Wildlands were real and you had family out here, you would have tried to leave. And I thought lying was the least painful way to keep you safe."

He wasn't wrong. The logic was skewed, but not senseless.

Alex gnawed on her bottom lip. "So, my parents, are they out here?"

"I don't know." Cicero shrugged. "I didn't have any contact with them after convincing them to give you back to me."

"So, you kept me here in the city earlier and went on your scorched-earth manhunt because you knew Will was my brother," Alex realized. It was making more sense, putting into perspective how strong Cicero's instinct was to protect her. "But how did he find out who I was?"

"Greg and Daniel told him. They admitted to it when Edric was... asking them. Will tipped off the Achilles to the bunker after we'd left. It wasn't because of Edric, it was because of you. He wanted to get you out in the desert and keep you there."

"So he could take me home," Alex repeated what the Vagabond had told her. It made sense to her, now.

"What?" Cicero asked.

"Will said he was going to take me home," Alex said. "That means my parents are out here, somewhere."

"Alex," Cicero placed a hand on her shoulder, "the last thing we need to be doing is chasing the words of someone who is not thinking straight. We need to find our friends first. Then we need to figure out what our next step is to stop all of this."

He's right. Why is he always right?

"I know." She nodded her head. "I know, I know. It's just, this is the closest I've been to finding out who I am." Alex looked up at Cicero.

How could she be so mad at him, but also love him so much?

Oh, right. Because love can make people do stupid things.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Cicero was not-so-casually hinting at Alex's recent run in with the Vagabond that scaled the wall.

Alex couldn't help but drop her guard. Her stomach felt like it had fallen fifteen stories. The saliva in her mouth turned metallic.

"Not right now," Alex said.

"Ok," he said without pushing her any further. Cicero looped his arm through hers. "Let's go downstairs. I think there's some food waiting for us."

Food. The best cure for all evils. Alex's stomach rumbled at the very thought of what was waiting for her. The Avoiders really knew how to cook.

She followed Cicero out of the room and down the stairs.

Soft rock music played in the dining room. A handful of Avoiders dispersed amongst the others, talking with one another like they were all friends. She'd become friendly with a few of them, but barely knew them more than what their first names were or what they liked to do in their spare time. Which, for the most part, was playing soccer and listening to music.

Alex gave a small nod to everyone as she passed by. But, her attention focused more on the food than the people. She had little time for pleasantries.

There were plates piled high with barbequed meat, bowls of rice and bread. Glasses of water, condensation dripping down the side, were fresh and inviting. It looked like the Avoiders had learned their lesson about drinking alcohol.

Leaving Cicero, Alex weaved her way over to Vida. "I feel like you guys are celebrating something," Alex said.

"We are," Vida replied. "We've been trying to bring Will in for years. He's done nothing but cause us trouble. I guess his own arrogance was his downfall."

"So he sent the flare up?" Alex questioned, loading a plate with as much food as it would carry before bending in half.

Vida nodded, taking a bite of a piece of chicken. "Yeah, he thought it would be a trap. But we brought the numbers."

Alex paused, a fork piled high with rice halfway to her mouth. She looked towards the building across the way, as if the wall was transparent. Somehow, she knew Will wouldn't have set a trap he knew they would escape from.

Something else was going on.

The drone of small talk buzzed into a single hum. Alex ignored an Avoider in front of her, Diego, trying to make conversation. He had a hand out in front of him, like he had been trying to wave at her. Alex disregarded his gesture and turned, leaving him with Vida and the food.

A laughing pair of Avoiders opened the door in front of her, and Alex followed them closely. She slipped through the open door, shielding her food, and surveyed the outside. There weren't many people who preferred the chilly air to the warm indoors.

If there was one lone wolf Alex could rely on finding outside, though, it would be the one person she sought. Alex chewed on another piece of chicken while she looked for her victim.

A smoke cloud gave away his position.

Alex adjusted her grip on the plate of food, and carefully navigated the uneven ground. She walked over to the benches, gaining an annoyed, over-the-shoulder glare from Edric.

"What the hell do you want?" Edric questioned, tapping out the ashes of his cigarette. Though he appeared agitated, and his word choice was anything but friendly, he sounded less grumpy than usual.

"I bring offerings." Alex held her plate out in front of her.

Edric scoffed. "I saw you eating from it before you came over here. You can't just offer up your leftovers before you ask me something."

"So, you don't want it?" Alex raised a brow, slowly pulling the plate back to her.

"I didn't say that," Edric replied harshly. He reached out and grabbed the plate, turning all in one motion so his legs swung back under the table. "What do you want, though?"

"Tell me about Will," Alex demanded.

A forkful of food paused halfway to Edric's mouth. He lifted his gaze to her, clearly contemplating returning to puffing on his cigarette in his other hand instead of eating. After a moment, Edric put the food back to the plate and took a long drag of the cigarette.

"That bad, huh?" Alex sat down beside him.

"How much time do you have?" Edric chuckled, scratching his forehead with his thumb.

Alex looked around at the empty street around them. The Avoiders she followed out disappeared, and no one else had gone outside, either.

"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do," Alex said. "And you're the only one around that seems to know about my brother, or at least the only one who's willing to talk about him."

"The downfalls of being someone who doesn't care enough to keep his mouth shut," Edric grumbled. He balanced his cigarette in his hand and managed to scoop a pile of food to his mouth. "What do you want to know about him?" Edric questioned with a mouthful of food.

Folding her hands across the table, Alex gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Now that I have someone to ask about it, I guess I don't know. Tell me whatever you can about him, from when you first met."